Abstract: An apparatus for cutting a length of wire into wire segments includes a pair of adjacent knife carriers, each disposed for rotation about parallel eccentric shafts. The knife carriers each hold a knife blade having a cutting edge. The cutter is constructed and arranged such that the carriers can selectively rotate about either the axis of rotation of the eccentric, wherein the cutting edges do not cut the wire passing between the cutter, or they can rotate about the center of the eccentric, wherein the edges will cut the wire. When the cutting edges cut the wire, their tangential speed is the same as the wire speed.